Match Report
On paper the standings were lopsided — Atlético Madrid 4th with 76 points, Almería 19th with 21, 55 apart. Almería had been over-performing their table position on recent form: 12th in the league over the last five rounds against 19th overall. In league terms the two rates read 1.13/1.97 for Almería and 1.84/1.13 for Atlético Madrid (scored/conceded per game); the competition average is 1.32.
Almería had not won in 15 games.
The head-to-head ledger counts 12 games: 2 Almería wins, 6 for Atlético Madrid, 4 draws, at 3.33 goals per meeting. Shutting the other side out is rare here — both scored in 67% of the meetings. Recent meetings have been cagier — 2.4 goals per game across the last five against 3.33 historically.
The match was played at Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos in Almeria (capacity 15,000). Half-time and full-time told different stories: it was 1-1 at the break, before 2 more goals closed it at 2-2.